Polk Vision hosts Smart Communities Summit

Monday

The key to giving everyone in Polk County access to affordable high-speed Internet has less to do with bandwidth and more to do with community leaders banding together to achieve that goal.

WINTER HAVEN — The key to giving everyone in Polk County access to affordable high-speed Internet has less to do with bandwidth and more to do with community leaders banding together to achieve that goal.

“It's 10 percent technology and 90 percent sociology,” said Don Selvage, Lakeland city commissioner. “The success or failure of introducing broadband to our citizens rests directly on the shoulders of policymakers in government, corporate executives in the private sector, and grassroots efforts from civic leaders.”

Selvage was one of several guest speakers during Friday morning's Smart Communities Summit in Winter Haven. The event offered an update on the efforts of Polk Vision's Broadband Alignment Team, which collaborated with the Central Florida Regional Planning Council and other community partners to develop a broadband plan for the county.

The plan, which was completed in July 2013, surveyed the county's high-speed Internet needs and outlined a set of goals to be completed by 2020.

Several attendees said one of the major takeaways from the event involved putting a human face on the need for high-speed Internet.

“It was a religious experience,” said Hiep Nguyen, chief information officer for the city of Winter Haven. “They didn't even talk about tech. They talked about the human side of it.”

BROADBAND AT HOME

The Polk County Broadband Plan revealed 80.3 percent of 702 residential respondents said they had Internet service at home, while 19.7 percent reported they had no home service. Of those 564 residential respondents who had Internet at home, 92.2 percent had a high-speed connection, which includes fiber, DSL, or a cable a modem.

According to a 2014 Brookings Institute report ranking the top 100 metro areas in the U.S., Lakeland-Winter Haven — which comprises all of Polk County — was 94 out of 100 in terms of households with broadband subscriptions.

Eric Labbe, planning division manager for the city of Winter Haven, said an improved broadband presence affects every facet of life in a community.

“Broadband is like the railroad system, the telephone system, the transcontinental railroad, and the interstate highway system all wrapped into one and put on steroids,” Labbe said.

BUSINESS

Of the 375 businesses surveyed for the Polk Broadband Plan, 94.4 percent said they had Internet connections.

Meanwhile, 73.4 percent of businesses surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that a fast Internet connection is critical for maintaining their company's competitiveness. On top of that, 63.7 percent answered that a fast Internet connection was critical for the survival of their business.

“Going forward, it's going to be just as important as electricity and water and all those other core items,” said Bud Strang, president of the 6/10Corporation in Winter Haven.

SCHOOLS

Tina Barrios, assistant superintendent for Polk County Public Schools' Information Systems and Technology Division, said broadband and mobile teaching tools have become an integral part of all levels of education. It also has changed how students learn and what a typical classroom looks and sounds like.

“When you walk in and look at the environment, it's a completely different feeling,” Barrios said. “Sometimes it can be a very noisy classroom, and as adults we expect to walk in and have it be very quiet and for all the desks to be in a row.

“I can tell you from an instructional standpoint that engaging and connecting with these students makes a huge difference in what happens in the classroom.”

WHAT COMES NEXT

Polk Vision's broadband team will continue to engage all of its community partners to help implement the broadband plan.

Another goal is to fully utilize existing resources. For example, there are several Polk municipalities — Auburndale, Bartow, Haines City, Lakeland, and Winter Haven — that presently own fiber networks.

The team has drafted a resolution it will soon roll out through the county.

“We are asking all of our local municipalities to look at the resolution and consider adopting it,” Labbe said. “It's a resolution that speaks to the importance of broadband, its necessity in the community in regards to economic development, public safety, education, and other public services.”

To view the Polk County Broadband Plan, visit www.cfrpc.org/programs/broadband.

— John Ceballos can be reached at john.ceballos@theledger.com or 863-802-7515.

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